The invention relates to an electromagnetic relay having
a first housing part, which is fitted with a coil as well as a core which passes through the coil and, outside the coil, forms pole plates at its two ends, PA1 a second housing part in which at least one spring support and at least one mating contact element are anchored, the spring support being fitted with a contact spring which interacts with the mating contact element, and PA1 an armature which is connected to the contact spring and bridges the pole plates forming air gaps.
In addition, the invention relates to a method for producing such a relay.
EP 0 531 890 A1 describes a switching relay which is in principle constructed in the manner described initially. There, however, the two housing parts do not form a closed housing but only a base which is preferably a printed circuit board having an integrally formed side wall, and a cover part between which a large housing gap remains open even after the two parts have been joined together. The relay is preferably designed as a multiple relay having a row of magnet systems located alongside one another, a common core pole plate being located on the base and forming a row of vertically projecting core sections onto each of which a coil is fitted. Each system also has a U-shaped armature which is mounted on a core pole plate and, with the contact spring, encloses the coil like a frame. The cover part has slits with inserted mating contact elements and spring supports, and these slits likewise are not sealed. There, the contacts are clearly adjusted through the large housing opening in the region of the contacts.
WO 91/07770 has already disclosed a relay in which the magnet system is fixed in the upper region of a housing, while a contact system is pushed in from the open underneath until the contact closes when the magnet system is energized. Once this contact system has been pushed in further by a predetermined amount in order to produce a desired overtravel, it is fixed in the housing. This allows manufacturing tolerances to be compensated for even at the assembly stage, so that there is no longer any need for a subsequent adjustment.
DE-A-2 506 626 discloses a contact support for switching elements, which contact support can be closed by a housing and is composed of a dielectric. Armature contacts are mounted either in a glass tube or in a plastic frame as a support, and this support is closed on the outside by two housing caps. All the moving parts are housed there in one and the same support part, while the housing caps have no influence on the positioning of the functional elements of the relay.
EP-A-0 251 035 furthermore discloses a relay which comprises two base body parts which are in the form of half-shells, form a coil former and are fitted with the winding. Two pole plates are embedded in a common plane in one of the base body parts, and their ends are bridged in a contact space within the coil by means of an armature contact. The armature itself is fixed by a spring, in the form of a frame, which is in the separating plane between the two base body parts.